Apathy as a Level of Consciousness

Do you remember the first two of the lowest sublevels of Consciousness we talked about in our last blog post? Shame and Guilt, indeed. And in this article, we are going to discuss one additional suffering-prone sublevel of Consciousness: Apathy

This is a sublevel that is mainly marked by poverty, despair, and hopelessness [1]. In this sublevel, one thinks of the world or the future as bleak. One is in a state of helplessness, where nothing can be done, nothing will help, and of course, they cannot help themselves, either. They, therefore, see themselves as a victim. Always in need [2]. Always in a state of lack. Never coming from a place where they are available or have the energy to access the resources that are actually already there.

In other words, when our patients are in a state of awareness of Apathy, the only time they get something is when it is provided to them by someone else. Of course, this reinforces their state, but they do not really see any other way, and those around them, including us, as clinicians, may either not know the state they are in, or may not understand that we can help our patients differently than we have been. Rather, and unknowingly, we are making our patients totally dependent on us, on the system, on being given a fish instead of teaching them how to fish.

As a result of relying entirely on others, our patients begin to expect this and do nothing for themselves. They’ve essentially given up on life.

As you read this, if you happen to think of individuals you work with, and who are in a state of hopelessness, then you would be correct. Others in this substate of Apathy may also be those we consider as the “beggars” on the street, or those who have become isolated due to either a chronic or progressive disease. When we meet with someone like this, we automatically feel the state of dependency. They feel “heavy” and like a burden to us and to all others around them.

As such, we may end up developing a lack of motivation to continue to help them. We may realize that they are draining resources without trying to “help themselves,” or even allow us to help them. This is because they have managed to abandon all hope and have managed to let go of the courage needed to imagine that such “hope” exists.

The question now is: How do we, as clinicians, become the most helpful to this segment of our patient population? Whether we work in private practice or in an organization that provides services to this population, understanding this sublevel of Consciousness is not only part of a complete understanding of Consciousness [3], but is also a great way for us to further understand people, our mind, our brain, who we are, and how what people do, feel, think, how they look at life, the world, or themselves, is a matter of State of Consciousness. This also helps us remember that it is not permanent because states change. We all go from one state to the next and there is no exception to this.

The question for us to then think about is how do we help someone move from one state to the next? How do we help someone who is in a state of Apathy, get to see there is hope, help, and that there are resources available?

We look forward to continuing to work together, so we, together mitigate suffering in the world.